Six-time Olympic track cycling champion Chris Hoy has announced that doctors have diagnosed him with advanced stage prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones and that he has two to four years to live.
In an interview with The Times, the 48-year-old Scotsman said that despite his advanced illness, he remains positive and enjoys life.
Hoy first announced his illness in February, when he wrote on social media that he was being treated and was optimistic, without further details about the type of cancer. Now he admitted in an interview that he has known for more than a year that his disease is incurable.
“Honestly, most of the time I’m pretty positive and I’m really happy,” Hoy said. “This is bigger than the Olympics. It’s bigger than anything else. It’s about appreciating life and finding joy. As unnatural as it may seem, that’s nature. We’re all born and we all die and this is just part of the process,” he added.
Last year, Hoy wrote a memoir in which he described how doctors diagnosed him with cancer after finding a tumor in his shoulder. He also stated that he had an allergic reaction to chemotherapy. In November, the family was dealt another blow when his wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
“But you keep reminding yourself that we’re lucky to have drugs that we can take that will slow it down as long as possible,” Hoy said. “I’ve learned to live in the present moment and have days of true joy and happiness. It’s absolutely not denial or self-deception. It’s about realizing what we can control. Fear and anxiety all come from trying to predict the future. But the future is just an abstract concept in our minds. None of us know what will happen. All we know is that our time on this planet is limited,” he added.
Hoy collected six Olympic gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games, 2008 Beijing Games and 2012 London Games. He also has 11 world titles in his collection. In 2009, Queen Elizabeth II. she was fit for a knight.
